WINSLOW, Maine — The wheels didn’t fall off. But they never really reached full speed, either.

Traip Academy finally ran into a football team as tough and as physical as it was on Saturday, losing to top-seeded Winslow, 7-0, in the semifinals of the Western Maine Class C playoffs. The loss ends the fourth-seeded Rangers’ season at 8-2.

It may also close the window on state championship hopes that have hovered over the resurgent program these last two years. Four members of the Rangers’ vaunted offensive line are seniors, as is running back Cory Aldecoa, who rushed for 161 yards on a day when his team gained just 193.

“It was a heavyweight fight,” said Traip coach Ron Ross. “I just feel bad for my guys. They gave it their best shot.”

Each time Traip looked to be positioning itself for a tying touchdown in the second half, something — a sack, a penalty — would take it out of its rhythm and leave it in long-yardage situations that its offense is not built to convert.

And the stout Black Raiders defense wouldn’t let it.

“They’re really proud about their line and they should be,” said Traip two-way tackle Ben Castellano, a senior. “They’re a really good line. And we’re proud of our line. It was all in the trenches today.”

“It was just a hog battle,” said Winslow coach Mike Siviski.

It was a battle the Black Raiders won early, much to the delight of the big home crowd that filled the bleachers and rung Poulin Field, just up the slope from the Kennebec River.

The Raiders were driving on their first possession when they lost a fumble in Traip territory, courtesy of a hit defensive back Atencio Martin put on running back Joe Hopkins.

But their defense held. After a shanked punt gave them the ball at their 44, they needed just three plays to score, with Hopkins running for 23 yards and then 17 yards for a touchdown up the gut of the defense for a 7-0 lead.

“We knew we had to survive the first quarter,” said Ross. “We knew they were going to come out like barnburners.”

Defensively, the Rangers began pinching to get more tacklers in position to stop the Raiders’ effective inside running game behind Hopkins (138 yards) and 6-foot, 230-pound fullback Zach Guptill (117 yards).

Offensively, their best work came after halftime. Behind the running of Aldecoa, they drove to the Winslow 25 on their first possession. But quarterback Chris Czachor dropped back to throw a rare pass on the next play and was sacked for a loss of 7 yards, effectively killing the march.

“As old as we are, we’re young,” said Ross. “Quarterback should have thrown the ball away and he didn’t. Next year, he won’t do that.”

After defensive lineman Joe Harty recovered a fumbled pitch, the Rangers were right back in business. But on first-and-10 from the 14 they were penalized for a chop block. On fourth-and-10, Czachor’s pass to Martin in the end zone was broken up.

Traip’s last chance came on its only possession of the fourth quarter. A 21-yard connection from Czachor to Martin set up a first-and-10 at the 23. But on fourth-and-3, fullback Devon Draker’s run up the middle was stopped 2 yards short of a new set of downs.

“It’s real frustrating,” said Castellano. “But they’re a good team, they can (stop) that. We hadn’t really seen that this year.”

Behind the hard running of Guptill, the Raiders chewed the last five minutes off the clock, moving from their own 15 to the Traip 9, where they faced a fourth-and-1. Siviski said he considered a field goal to put the game away — cannon-legged Dylan Hapworth has made 50-yarders in practice — but he felt more comfortable making Traip’s ground attack try to go 91 yards in a minute.

It never came to that. Guptill bullied ahead for a first down, the Raiders charged onto the field to celebrate a few moments later, and the Rangers were left disheartened, another season coming to a stop short of the ultimate goal. They lost at top-seeded Yarmouth, 14-0, in last year’s regional final.

Winslow finished with a 262-193 edge in total yardage, with most of it coming in the first quarter and on the final drive.

“Aldecoa — he’s fantastic,” said Siviski. “And Guptill for us. Both teams, that’s all we could get today. The defenses played great.”

The mantra all year for the Rangers, who dressed just 18 players Saturday, has been to “go until the wheels fall off.” In defeat, they felt like they did.

“It’s hard to put into words,” said Castellano. “You try as hard as you can, you hope you get it, you hope our brothers want it as much as you. We wanted it. We just got the short straw today.”